It has been known that 2-[1-methyl-2-(4-phenoxyphenoxy)ethoxy]-pyridine, which is a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound having juvenile hormone activity, is produced by a process in which an alcohol derivative such as 1-methyl-2-(4-phenoxyphenoxy)ethanol is reacted with a halogenated nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound such as 2-chloropyridine in the presence of a base (JP 3034951 A). The alcohol derivative, 1-methyl-2-(4-phenoxyphenoxy)ethanol, which is an intermediate for production, has been produced by, for example, reacting propylene oxide with 4-phenoxyphenol in the presence of a base. In this process, however, in addition to the desired 1-methyl-2-(4-phenoxyphenoxy)ethanol, there is also produced its isomer, 2-methyl-2-(4-phenoxyphenoxy)ethanol, as a by-product; therefore, it is necessary to separate and remove this isomer by a separating technique such as crystallization. For this reason, the above process cannot always be said to be a quite satisfactory process from an industrial point of view.
Further, for producing optically active nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds, it requires the step of treating an organic carboxylic acid ester of the above alcohol derivative with a microorganism-derived esterase to cause asymmetric hydrolysis, affording an optically active alcohol derivative. This cannot always be said to be quite satisfactory from an industrial point of view in that the number of steps for production becomes increased.